Homemade marshmallows

This post is from December of last year, but I'm gearing up this weekend to make a few batches and wanted to remind you that you should too!! Happy 'mallow making. The recipe can be found here. I'm curious, if you're a candy maker are there any reasonable substitutions for corn syrup?   

Hot cocoa with marshmallows is a quiet pleasure these days. With so many artisan options I've long ago given up on the classic Jet Puffed. When the Fall chill arrives I crave the gooey goodness of a melted marshmallow and this year, instead of searching high and low for a fix, I decided it was time to learn to make them myself. Years ago (before a stand mixer graced my counter top) I attempted a recipe that produced a slimy, wet, and weak little batch of marshmallows too icky to enjoy.

I'm happy to share that with my latest attempt at these heavenly confections (I made cinnamon vanilla), my confidence has been rebuilt and I will be making homemade marshmallows from now until forever.

oh yum

spread it out

liberally sprinkle with powdered sugar and let sit for 8 hours

TAH DAH! Share, and enjoy!

Need something to eat those marshmallows with? Here is the recipe to my favorite hot cocoa--it's really more like drinking chocolate, so you don't need a lot, and topped with either sweet whipped cream or a marshmallow it's perfect any time (or all the time).

5 oz. bittersweet chocolate, coarsely chopped

2 oz. milk chocolate, coarsely chopped

1/2 cup boiling water

3/4 cup whole milk

1/4 cup heavy cream

In a medium bowl, combine the bittersweet chocolate with the milk chocolate. Add the boiling water and let it stand for 1 minute. Whisk the chocolate mixture until it is smooth.

In a small saucepan, bring the milk and heavy cream just to a simmer. Add the chocolate mixture and whisk over moderate heat until hot. Pour into small mugs and garnish as you like!

Recipe adapted from Food & Wine

A wreath for every door

Every day at nap time I take a walk to lull Merritt and Roscoe to sleep, but if that doesn't work out we end up cruising in the car instead. Either way I look forward to the time because it guarantees at least an hour to obsess over the amazing Christmas decorations that trim the houses here.  They are quite over the top.

My favorite trend is the magnificent wreaths adorning the front doors. Each one is meticulously detailed and emulates the spirit of each home. They are color coordinated, of course. I snapped pictures of these as we walked on Monday, and this isn't even all of them!

Feeding the birds (and the squirrels too)

You know the classic pine cone bird feeder, made by coating a pine cone with a slather of peanut butter and a generous coating of bird seed?  We couldn't find any decent sized pine cones in our yard so we decided to use twigs and sticks instead.

We started out using our hands to spread the peanut butter but it was a little too messy so we switched to a small spatula, which did the job well. 

Roscoe lost interest in the spreading once he tasted the peanut butter, so he ate while I finished up the base coats.  He was happy then to add the seeds.

We then pushed our little bird feeders into the dirt and admired them.

Later in the afternoon a family of seven crowded our feeder with their squirrley antics while we spectated from inside.

Animal encounters

Our favorite part of yesterday was making some new friends at the local zoo.

Have you ever seen a giraffe up close?  We really enjoyed it.  There is something mythic about their size and the way that their towering necks sway and bob to keep pace with their skinny legs as they walk about.  And the flock of parakeets were really fun too!

Thriving on Winter's Bounty

Winter Squash Lasagna

It's wintertime even though this second week of warm and breezy weather might have me believing otherwise.  But, it's definitely December and while eating seasonally in the Spring and Summer was easy peasy, and the Fall wasn't too bad either, learning how to cook (and eat) the leaves and roots of winter is not quite as joyful. At least not at first glance.  What to do with all of the spinach, beets, carrots, parsnips, winter squash, potatoes, and sweet potatoes!

I have an extensive collection of cookbooks, but lately I've been relying on two in particular.  The Winter Harvest Cookbook has shown me that the winter dinner table can still be diverse and satisfying--exciting even!  Tonight we ate a traditional farmer's skillet supper of bacon, potatoes, and kale--we added eggs to the mix for a hearty, warm, and filling meal.

Last night I baked a winter squash lasagna with crimini mushrooms, butternut squash, and romano and mozzarella cheeses.  Red wine, garlic, tomato sauce and a from scratch bechamel sauce made for a complex flavor combination.  Roscoe finished his plate clean and Merritt was close behind him.  I was pleasantly surprised, and happy to cook squash beyond my old standby of caramelizing it. (note: if you've never made Ina Garten's recipe for caramelized butternut squash, you must.  It is fantastic--but wow, it is also possible to use butternut squash in other ways too!)

The recipe for Winter Squash Lasagna can be found online here. Gingered beets and brussels sprouts, cabbage with coconut, and chestnut risotto are just a few of the recipes that are going to save me this winter--i just know it!

The other book that I keep returning to is called Simply in Season.  What I love most about this book is the way that it's organized. Corresponding to the four seasons, there are four sections and within each section is a list of the seasonal produce that you might expect to find at that time of year.  Every page offers a new recipe and the seasonal ingredients used in each one are highlighted from the larger list found in the margin, which means you can search by ingredient with a quick flip through the pages.  It has a great reference section in the front too. Root vegetable crumble (with cashews!), stuffed beets, and golden carrot salad are up next.

I also want to check out the kid version, Simply in Season for Children.

If you eat seasonally, how do you cope with the bounty that winter offers?

Counting down to the 25th

In addition to a more traditional chocolate and treats advent calendar, we decided this year to do an activity advent to build excitement for the season and to savor the joy that lies in every day that leads up to Christmas day.

I first read about the idea in the online magazine House of Fifty, which I am new to and love! We compiled a list of 25 things to do in the month of December and I wrote them out in one big long colorful list. (It proved to be a relaxing after-the-kids-go-to-sleep activity and it made me feel like a kid again to get creative with a box of crayons.) Then we hung it in a hallway that gets plenty of foot traffic so it is handy to reference and because it is fun to look at.

On our list we included events like the local christmas parade and a train show that's coming to town next weekend.  We also chose activities and crafts that we can enjoy doing together like making a bird feeder and decorating a gingerbread house. Some items are about us, and some are about others like baking a treat for a neighbor and contributing to a local cause that directly impacts children in our area.

On Thursday we decorated the kids' rooms with lights and a miniature christmas tree.  Last night we crossed two activities off our list when we attended the Grand Illumination, which counts down to the annual lighting of the city skyline, and then joined the masses after dark to check out the tacky lights tour.

Tonight, we're building our first fire of the season and reading bedtime stories fireside.

How do you count down to Christmas?

Good Feeling

Like many of you, we're feeling all warm and fuzzy about life and love and family this month.

For one, Merritt turned nine months and Roscoe turned two and a half on the 18th and 19th. Merritt recently started crawling and pulls up now to stand. Roscoe has been testing limits and surprising us daily with the way that he strings together his thoughts, and his incredible vocabulary and imagination.

We closed on our old house today. We are very, very happily no longer home owners!  We relocated to the capital of Virginia two weekends ago, and the last 25% of our stuff has yet to be unpacked and organized. Despite the fact that the kitchen--what I would consider the engine and workhouse of our home--is currently held hostage by miscellaneous gadgets and servingware without space enough to be given a home, the (more important) stockings are hung along with the rest of our Christmas cheer.

I've fallen in love with our little place and pretty much everything around us. I go on walks every day with the kids and remain fascinated by the grand architecture and idyllic nature of this small city.  The people are charming, the community is authentic, and I am a huge fan. Of course, we were familiar with this area before now--both Andy and I have degrees from the local university--when we lived here for seven years and bought our very first home across the river in 2003. Living here again, and looking at all that the area offers from the perspective of a parent and as an adult, all I can say is that Richmond is a true gem and I'm so thankful we get to call it home.

Speaking of which, it is weird to me how quickly this house and this neighborhood felt like home once our furniture was placed.  It's like we never skipped a beat.  It's also unreal how drastically our daily life has changed for the better.

I'm thankful for early morning walks to Black Hand for a new favorite the Dirty Chai (a chai latte with two shots of espresso) and breakfast sandwiches

I'm appreciative and grateful to have nearby a year 'round farmer's market where, on our first Saturday, we met farmers offering raw milk cow shares (we're signing up!), a berry CSA (this too!), local seafood and pasta vendors, not to mention some pre-tty ahmazing sourdough doughnuts.

We're thankful for a wildly fun and equally popular neighborhood playground just around the block that has served well to burn off energy before (and after) dinner on many a night.

On Saturday I walked to Carytown, with Merritt in the ErgoBaby, to shop for Christmas and to pick out some treats for our advent calendar--an unheard of luxury in our old county. New neighbors, with equally cumbersome double strollers and volatile two year olds, have welcomed us warmly and our ability to get around town on foot has alleviated any lingering post-Northern Virginia sense of disconnection or isolation.

The boys' new nanny starts tomorrow, marking the end of a long and twisted search for good help.  I'm relieved that I'll be able to work in peace and hope that she'll stay with us for the remaining 6 months of my position.

And then there's the cupcakery down the street. No really, I think they rival Georgetown's.

This week holds more of the same unpacking, ongoing Christmas decorating, and city exploring.

Happy Thanksgiving to you!  What are you most thankful for this season?

In the throes of moving

Our approach has been to pack up a little at a time, when we find time.  It was easy to feel overwhelmed at first, but I've been pleasantly surprised with the number of boxes we can fill up in a few hours set aside for the purpose. We've made several trips South to drop off the latest boxes, and slowly but surely one house fills up as the other one empties. Next Saturday is our official move-out day, and we're hiring help for all the big and heavy stuff--mainly furniture, and boxes and boxes of books.

Motivated by the thrill of a more streamlined abode on the other side, we've been throwing out and giving away clothes and decor that we've outgrown, a hoard of stacked and filed papers from past jobs and college projects, old textbooks (why did we think we would need those?!), and an embarrassing number of magazine back issues. It feels good to lighten up and our smaller digs will be brighter for not bringing with us unnecessary clutter.

Roscoe is an enthusiastic packer and throws whatever is nearby into the designated cardboard boxes. We've had to keep a close eye on him though, because we've found trash in the packing boxes and toys, books, and other miscellaneous items in the trash.

We dismantled Merritt's nursery a couple days ago. The move has me feeling sentimental about very few things, but the babies' spaces are an exception. I hate that we can't deconstruct Roscoe's tree from it's sunny little place on his wall but, sadly, we can't take it with us. Roscoe has become very protective of the contents of his room and so we have decided to leave it intact until the last moment, when the guys will be packing up whatever is left here and the kids and I will be entertaining ourselves with unpacking at the new house.

The boys and I have taken many weekday trips to our new city to check things out and to interview a range of potential nannies. I can't seem to stay away for very long because my excitement for our future there feels so big, I wish we lived there now. The kids inevitably fall asleep on the ride down and then we have the whole afternoon for marveling at nature in the backyard, or traipsing around town in search for a treat, or waiting around for nanny's who stand us up.  That has become an unfortunate trend.

In less than two weeks I imagine we'll be unpacked, and settling in for Thanksgiving feast!